The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Knight Opened by Sir Kenelm Digby (best e reader for epub .txt) 📖

the Sun. When the broth is thoroughly well boiled, pour it from the Ingredients, and let it cool and harden into a gelly: then take from it the fat on the top, and the dregs in the bottom. To a porrenger full of this melted, put the yolk of a new-laid egg beaten with the juyce of an Orange (or less if you like it not so sharp) and a little Sugar; and let this stew gently a little while altogether, and so drink it. Some flesh of rosted Veal or Mutton, or Capon, besides the rosted-bones, that have marrow in them, doth much amend the broth.

The Joynts I have mentioned above, are those, which the Butchers cut off, and throw to their dogs, from the ends of shoulders, legs, and other bare long parts, and have the sinews sticking to them.


GOOD NOURISHING POTAGE

Take any bones of rosted or boiled Beef, from which the meat is never so clean eaten and picked; as the Ribs, the Chine-bones, the buckler plate-bone, marrow-bones, or any other, that you would think never so dry and insipid. Break them into such convenient pieces, as may lie in your pipkin or pot; also you may bruise them. Put with them a good piece of the bloody piece of the throat of the Beef, where he is sticked, and store of water to these. Boil and scum them, till the first foul scum is risen and taken away; afterwards scum no more, but let the blood boil into the broth. You may put a quartered Onion or two to them, if you like them. After four or five hours boyling, put in a good knuckle with some of the leg of Veal; and, if you please, a crag-end or two of necks of Mutton. Let these boil very well with the rest. You may put in what herbs you please, in due time, as Lettice, Sorrel, Borage and Bugloss, Spinage and Endive, Purslane, &c. and a bundle of sweet herbs: In winter, Cabbage, or Turneps, or Parsley-roots, or Endive, &c. It will be done in two or three hours after the Veal and Mutton are in. Pour out the broth, and boil it a little by it self over a Chafing-dish, in some deep vessel, to scum off the superfluous fat. Then pour it upon tosted bread (by degrees, if you will, stewing it, to gelly it) to serve it in (after it hath stewed a little,) you must remember to season it with salt, Pepper and Cloves, in the due time. You will do well to quicken it with some Verjuyce, or juyce of Orange; or with some yolks of Eggs and the juyces, if the broth be not over-strong. Green-pease in the season do well with the Potage. You may put in, near the beginning, some bottom of a Peppered Pasty, or of a loaf of bread.


WHEATEN FLOMMERY

In the West-country, they make a kind of Flomery of wheat flower, which they judge to be more harty and pleasant then that of Oat-meal, Thus; Take half, or a quarter of a bushel of good Bran of the best wheat (which containeth the purest flower of it, though little, and is used to make starch,) and in a great woodden bowl or pail, let it soak with cold water upon it three or four days. Then strain out the milky water from it, and boil it up to a gelly or like starch. Which you may season with Sugar and Rose or Orange-flower-water, and let it stand till it be cold, and gellied. Then eat it with white or Rhenish-wine, or Cream, or Milk, or Ale.


PAP OF OAT-MEAL

Beat Oat-meal small; put a little of it to milk, and let it boil stewingly, till you see that the milk begins to thicken with it. Then strain the milk from the Oat-meal (this is as when you soak or boil out the substance of Oatmeal with water, to make Flomery,) then boil up that milk to the height of Pap, which sweeten with a little Sugar, and put to it some yolks of Eggs dissolved in Rose or Orange-Flower-water, and let it mittonner a while upon the Chafing-dish, and a little Butter, if you like it. You may boil a little Mace in the Milk.


PANADO

Beat a couple of New-laid-eggs in good clear broth; heat this a little, stirring it all the while. Then pour this upon a Panado made thick of the same broth; and keep them a little upon a Chafing-dish to incorporate, stirring them all the while.


BARLEY PAP

Boil Barley in water usq. ad Putrilaginem , with a flake or two of Mace or a quartered Nutmeg; and when it is in a manner dissolved in water with long boiling, strain out all the Cream or Pap, leaving the husks behind. At the same time beat (for one mess) two Ounces of blanched Almonds with Rose-water; and when they are throughly beaten, strain out their milk, (or you may put this to the Barley before it is strained, and strain them together) and put it to the Barley Pap, and let them stew a while together; then sweeten it with Sugar to your taste. Or when you have boiled the Barley in water very tender as above, you may put Milk to it, and boil again to fitting thickness; Then strain it, adding Almonds as above. Or if you will, and your stomack will bear it, you may eat it without straining the barley (but the Almonds must be strained) and you may put Butter to it if you please.

You may do the like with Oat-meal or Rice; or put Pine Kernels (first well watered) with the Almonds.


OAT-MEAL PAP. SIR JOHN COLLADON

Put beaten Oat-meal to soak an hour or two in milk, as you do in water, when you make Flomery. Then strain it out into a Possnet through a fitting strainer; and if you judge it too thick of the Oat-meal for sufficient boiling, add more milk to it. Set this to boil, putting then into it a lump of Sugar, (about as big as a little Wall nut) and stir it well all the while, that it burn not too. About an hours boiling is sufficient, by which time it should be grown pretty thick. Put then a good lump of fresh-butter to it, which being well melted and stirred into the Pap and incorporated with it, take it from the fire, and put it into a dish, and strew some fine sugar upon it, or mingle some sugar with it to sweeten the whole quantity. You may season it also with Rose-water or Orange flower-water, or Ambergreece, or some Yolks of New-laid-eggs. You may put in a very little Salt at the first.


RICE AND ORGE MONDÉ

Boil a quart of Milk in a large Pipkin; as soon as it boileth, take it from the fire, and instantly put into it five or six good spoonfuls of picked Rice, and cover it close, and so let it stand soaking in the Chimney-corner two hours. Then set in on the fire again, to make it stew or boil simpringly for an hour, or an hour and half more, till it be enough. Then put sugar to it, and so serve it in.

Orge mondé is done in the same manner; only, you let that stand covered and warm all the while, during three, four or five hours, and then you boil it simpringly three or four hours more. The quantity must be more or less, as you desire it thicker or thinner, which after once tryal, you will easily know how to proportion out. The chief care must be, that the Rice or Barley be well homogeneated with the Milk.


SMALLAGE GRUEL

In a Marble mortar beat great Oat-meal to meal (which requireth long beating) then boil it three or four hours in Spring water. To a possnet full of two or three quarts of water put about half a Porrenger full of Oat-meal, before it is beaten; for after beating it appeareth more. To this quantity put as much Smallage as you buy for a peny, which maketh it strong of the Herb, and very green. Chop the smallage exceeding small, and put it in a good half hour before you are to take your possnet from the fire. You are to season your Gruel with a little salt, at the due time; and you may put in a little Nutmeg and Mace to it. When you have taken it from the fire, put into it a good proportion of butter, which stir well, to incorporate with the Gruel, when it is melted.


ABOUT WATER GRUEL

When you set to the fire a big pot of Oat-meal, (which must be but once cut, that is, every corn cut once a two) and water, to make water-gruel; Let it boil long, till it be almost boiled enough, then make it rise in a great ebullition, in great galloping waves, and skim of all the top, that riseth; which may be a third part of the whole, and is the Cream, and hath no gross-visible Oat-meal in it. Boil that a while longer by it self, with a little Mace and Nutmeg, and season it with Salt. When it is enough, take it off, and put Sugar, Butter, and a little Red rose-water to it, and an Egg with a little White-wine, if you like it, and would have it more nourishing. This is by much better, then the part which remaineth below with the body of the Oat-meal. Yet that will make good Water-gruel for the servants.

If you boil it more leisurely you must skim off the Cream, as it riseth in boiling; else it will quickly sink down again to the rest of the gross Oat-meal. And thus you may have a finer Cream then with hasty boiling.


AN EXCELLENT AND WHOLESOME WATER-GRUEL WITH WOOD-SORREL AND CURRANTS

Into a Possnet of two quarts of water, besides the due proportion of beaten Oat-meal, put two handfuls of Wood-sorrel a little-chopped and bruised, and a good quantity of picked and washed currants, tyed loosly in a thin stuff bag (as a bolter cloth). Boil these very well together, seasoning the Composition in due time, with Salt, Nutmeg, Mace, or what else you please, as Rosemary &c. when it is sufficiently boiled, strain the Oat-meal, and press out all the juyce and humidity of the Currants and Herbs, throwing away the insipid husks; and season it with Sugar and Butter; and to each Porrenger-ful two spoonfuls of Rhenish-wine and the yolk of an Egg.


THE QUEENS BARLEY-CREAM

You must make a good barley-water, throwing away the three first waters as soon as they boil; which will take up about three quarters of an hour. Then you boil a large quantity of water with the Barley (which thus prepared makes the water no more Red or Russet) during an hours space or more; (that it may be strong of the Barley; perle-Barley is best,) towards the latter end put in the Pullet flead, and the legs cut off; If it should boil too long, the emulsion would taste too fleshy. When it is enough, let the broth run clear from the Barley and pullet, and beat the Almonds with the broth, and strain them from it. Then sweeten it with Sugar. This is to make at least two English quarts of Emulsion. I should like to put some pulp of Barley, boiled by it self, to strain with the Almond-Milk, and, if you will, some Melon seeds. You may put some juyce of